The light from every star is old, but naked-eye stars are nearby and their lives are vastly longer than the delay. The familiar night sky is not a stellar graveyard.
The idea that most stars in the night sky are already dead begins with a true statement: light takes time to travel. Every star is therefore seen as it was, not as it is at some shared present instant.
The mistake comes next. The stars visible withou... [5452 chars]